WARDOGS best settings for FPS and visibility (1080p, 1440p, 3440×1440)
WARDOGS is a 100-player Unreal Engine game, so it is CPU-heavy and the expensive settings are the ones that scale with player count and destruction: shadows, effects, post-processing and volumetric fog. Textures and resolution are cheap on a card with 12 GB or more. Start from the preset below for your resolution, then tune FOV and audio.
The settings that matter, ranked by cost
| Setting | Frame cost | Visibility effect | Set it to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadows | Very high | Low shadows flatten cover, but enemies stand out more | Low or Medium |
| Effects | High | High effects add smoke and debris that hide players | Low |
| Volumetric fog / clouds | High | Fog hides distant players | Low |
| Post-processing | Medium | Bloom and blur hurt spotting | Low, motion blur off |
| Anti-aliasing / upscaler | Medium | TAA smears; DLSS/FSR Quality is cleaner | DLSS/FSR Quality (native at 1080p) |
| Textures | Low (VRAM only) | None | High if ≥ 12 GB VRAM, Medium on 8 GB |
| View distance | Medium | High keeps distant players rendered | High |
| Foliage | Medium | Low removes bushes players hide in | Low |
| Ambient occlusion | Medium | Slight | Off or Low |
| Reflections | Medium | None in a firefight | Low |
Presets
1080p, 60 FPS target (GTX 1660 / RX 590 / RTX 3050)
Everything Low except Textures Medium and View distance High. Native resolution, no upscaler (Performance upscaling at 1080p is a soft mess). Cap frames at your monitor's refresh.
1440p, 100+ FPS (RTX 3070 / RX 6700 XT / RTX 4060 Ti)
Shadows Medium, Effects Low, Fog Low, Post Low, Textures High, View distance High, DLSS/FSR Quality. Expect the recommended-spec 70 FPS on Medium to become 100+ with these.
3440×1440 ultrawide, 100+ FPS (RX 7700 XT / RTX 4070 / 7800 XT)
Same as 1440p with FSR/DLSS Quality and FOV 100–105. Ultrawide renders 34% more pixels than 16:9 1440p, so the upscaler is doing real work here. Turn off Vignette; it eats the extra width you paid for.
4K (RTX 4080 / 7900 XTX)
Shadows Medium, Effects Medium, Textures High, DLSS/FSR Balanced. Frame generation is acceptable here if you're above 60 base FPS and playing casually.
Frame generation
DLSS 3 / FSR 3 frame-gen roughly doubles the number on the counter and adds one frame of input latency. In a game where you're often shooting at players at 200 m, that latency is felt. Keep it off unless your base FPS is under 60 and you'd rather have smooth visuals than the tightest aim.
FOV and HUD
- FOV slider is in the Gameplay tab. 95 on 16:9 is the common competitive setting; ultrawide players run 100–105.
- Reduce HUD scale one notch on ultrawide so the compass and zone markers sit nearer the centre.
- Turn crosshair to a single dot with high contrast; the default is fine but wide.
Audio for footsteps and voice
- Master high, Music off or 10%.
- Proximity voice is its own slider; set it to 70% so a shouting teammate doesn't mask footsteps.
- If you have a "3D audio" or spatial toggle, use it with stereo headphones. Windows Sonic/Dolby Atmos on top of it makes positioning worse, so pick one.
CPU-bound? Check this first
Open the in-game FPS overlay (or Steam's, once overlays are working). If GPU usage sits below 90% and FPS is still low, you're CPU-limited: dropping resolution won't help, dropping Shadows, Effects and Fog will. 13th/14th-gen Intel owners: make sure the BIOS has the 2024+ microcode and that the chip isn't throttling.
Settings file
The config lives at %LOCALAPPDATA%\WARDOGS\Saved\Config\Windows\GameUserSettings.ini. Back it up once you're happy; a patch can reset it.
FAQ
What FOV should I use in WARDOGS?
90–95 on 16:9, 100–105 on ultrawide. Higher shows more but shrinks distant players; 95 is the spotting sweet spot for most people.
Does WARDOGS support ultrawide?
Yes, 21:9 renders full width with the HUD pinned to the edges. Set FOV higher than on 16:9 to compensate for the wider image.
DLSS or FSR?
Use whichever matches your card. Quality mode at 1440p and above is nearly free; Performance mode at 1080p looks soft. Frame generation adds latency, keep it off for competitive play.
Why is my FPS low on a good PC?
100 players and destruction are CPU-bound. If GPU usage is under 90%, you're CPU-limited: drop Effects, Shadows and crowd/physics settings rather than resolution.
Sick of full servers and queues?
Rent your own WARDOGS server from an approved host and play with your mates on your rules. UK/EU: QONZER (bare metal, no slot fees). Anywhere else: BisectHosting (21 locations). Casual group: xREALM (pay by the hour). Full comparison.